We thought a V-8 engine couldn't get smaller than the 100-cc Stinger 609, but YouTube has proven us wrong.

This video (via Road & Track) shows a tiny, 45-cc engine complete with electronic fuel injection and dual overhead cams.

According to YouTube user Keith5700, the model engine was built using nothing but an old Bridgeport mill and a lathe.

The fuel injection is a modified Megasquirt MS2 system, augmented with parts scavenged from one full-size Fiat Punto injector.

The mite of an engine looks like a very angry little laboratory experiment on life support.

It's bolted to a workbench, with fuel lines running to a small jar and tubes channeling exhaust away from the perfectly-duplicated miniature exhaust headers. The vitals are displayed on a laptop, although the engine's creator doesn't know its exact power output.

We're not sure what will happen to this engine next, but it would be pretty cool to see it installed in a miniature dragster or hot rod.

It would also make a pretty wicked phone charger.

Where does the impulse to build model V-8s come from? Maybe it's better not to ask why. Something this cool and impractical probably wouldn't stand up to sustained logic.

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